


Between the Silence and the Sound

by todxrxki



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Kenma and Lev are both famous actors, M/M, all the fake dating tropes!!!, also kozume kenma is the most oblivious person on the planet about love in this fic, and kuroo is kinda dumb too but also an amazing bf, kissing practice!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 04:23:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20269963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/todxrxki/pseuds/todxrxki
Summary: Everyone seems to be under the impression that famous actor Kozume Kenma is dating his co-star, Lev Haiba. However, Kenma absolutely cannot stand the idea. In the heat of the moment, Kenma publicly blurts out that he's dating his childhood best friend, Kuroo Tetsurou, and they start a fake relationship for the benefit of the press. Soon, though, Kenma begins to realize that fake-dating his best friend might be more complicated than he'd originally planned. / Fake Dating AU, for Kuroken Week Day 7.





	Between the Silence and the Sound

**Haiba Lev @haibalev ** 8h

Managed to snap a pic with one of the COOLEST dudes EVER, @kozumekenma!!

_ [Photo attached. Lev grinning and holding up a peace sign, Kenma looking completely unamused.] _

**sam @levfan02 ** 7h

@haibalev OMG YOU TWO ARE SO ADORABLE!! I LOVE YOUR PICS TOGETHER!!

**Amy @ameliawest ** 5h

Just saw the pic Lev tweeted of him and Kenma! They’re the cutest. Maybe we can call them Levken? Kenlev?

**Max @kenmaspie ** 5h

@ameliawest Levken is such a cute name for them!! 😍😍😍

**New text to: Haiba Lev**

you’re dead meat.

.

“I’m going to die,” Kenma groans into the phone. “Actually, no. I’m not going to die. I’m going to kill Lev. And if I die, I’m taking him with me.”

There’s a chuckle on the other end of the phone. “You’re right, you’re not gonna die. Also I’d prefer if you didn’t get put away for life for first degree murder. But what’s got you so worked up this time?”

“Lev posted a picture of the two of us,” Kenma grumbles. “It wasn’t a photo I consented to taking, either. But of course his stupid ass posts it, and now everyone is talking about how cute the two of us would be as a couple.  _ Lev  _ and I. There’s a fucking ship name -  _ Levken.  _ It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Kenma has known Kuroo Tetsurou for the grand majority of his life, since Kenma was seven and Kuroo’s family moved next door to his. The two of them had been thrown together by their parents, who'd insisted they must be best friends since they were around the same age. At first it had been incredibly awkward, but the more they hung out, the more something between them seemed to click. Since then, they've been pretty much inseparable. Kenma can't imagine life without Kuroo at this point. It's kind of scary.

Over the fifteen years since Kenma met Kuroo for the first time, Kenma’s become intensely aware of every single habit and emotion of Kuroo’s, to the point that he can accurately predict what Kuroo’s going to do next. So he’s not surprised in the least when Kuroo breaks down into a peal of raucous, obnoxious laughter, though he is still a little annoyed. “Shut  _ up,  _ Kuro. This is serious.”   
  


“Levken,” Kuroo repeats through cackles. “Oh my god, you can’t be serious. I better be the best man at the wedding.” 

“Kuro,” Kenma hisses, clenching his teeth. “I am not being dramatic when I say that I would literally rather die than ever marry Haiba Lev.”

Kuroo’s laughter finally starts to die down. “Okay, you’re still being a little dramatic there. But that’s why it’s so funny! You and Lev. God, I love it.”

“You just like getting on my nerves,” Kenma complains. He sighs, tilting the phone closer to him. “I don’t know what to do. He’s the bane of my existence. I don’t want people thinking that I’m  _ associated  _ with someone like that! It’s humiliating. And it takes attention away from my career.”

“No one’s going to forget about your career,” Kuroo says, his voice the slightest bit softer. “Your acting is amazing. Anyone with eyes can see that.”

Kenma sighs. There’s something about the tone of Kuroo’s voice that’s soothing, that starts to cut away at his frustration, little by little. Even still… “I really don’t want people thinking I’m with Lev, Kuro.”

“I know, I know,” Kuroo says. He’s silent for a couple of seconds, and Kenma knows he’s thinking, finally trying to come up with a solution. Then he tells Kenma, “The way I see it, you’ve got three options here.”

Kenma bites his lip and closes his eyes, steeling himself for his possible solutions. “Fine. What are they?”

“First, you let this go on,” Kuroo says. “You don’t say anything either way. Eventually, maybe, the gossip might start to fizzle out, but who knows. Or people keep talking about it. Either way, that’s your first option. Your second option is to insist that you’re not dating and you’re not interested in Lev. People aren’t gonna believe you, most likely. I’ve seen cases like this before. Fans aren’t so easily swayed. In fact, some of them might take it as a confirmation. They’d think that because you’re so adamant about this that you’re hiding something.”

Kenma hits his head against the wall. “Essentially, what you’re saying is I’m screwed.”

“Not exactly,” Kuroo says. “There’s one more option, but I don’t know if you’re gonna like it.”

“Just tell me,” Kenma replies. “It really can’t get much worse than this.”

He hears Kuroo breathe in on the other side of the line, then exhale slowly. Finally, Kuroo tells him, “You could date someone else. Or… pretend to date someone else.”

“Oh.” Kenma bites down harder on his lip. Kuroo has a point. People tend to be less likely to mess with those who are already in relationships, and if Kenma was dating someone, there could be no speculation about Kenma actually being in a relationship with Lev. But… “No one would want to date me.”

“Shut up.” Kenma can hear the eye roll in Kuroo’s voice. “There’s like a million people on this planet who’d want to date you. People who’d die to have the honor of even fake dating you. The real question is: who would you be able to stand for that extended of a time period?”

“Hm. Tough question.” Kenma stands up and walks over to the window, staring out of it into the darkness. He groans. “Okay. I’ll think about it. Thanks, Kuro.”

“Anything for you,” Kuro drawls in his usual stupid-flirty tone. “Hey, call me later tonight, okay? Gonna study for a bit.”

“Yeah,” Kenma agrees. “Bye.”

“Bye, kitten,” Kuroo says. He hangs up, and Kenma feels himself sink into the silence. He’s got a choice to make.

.

Unfortunately, Kenma doesn’t have too much time to dwell on his problem, because he has a talk show the next day. He keeps stewing on the problem while he’s in hair and makeup, but there doesn’t seem to be any solution beyond the ones Kuroo had proposed, besides  _ actually  _ dating Lev - which is out of the question. He’s still feeling nervous by the time he’s dragged out to talk to the host.

“Hi, how’s it going, Kenma-kun?” the host says after Kenma’s introduction. “Long time no see!”

“Good to be here,” Kenma replies, as though on autopilot. “And yeah, I’ve been busy filming.”

“For  _ Dying Breed,  _ yes?” she says. “We’ve all seen the advertising, and I have to admit we’re incredibly excited to see the final project. What’s it been like filming?”

“It’s been okay, I guess,” Kenma says with a shrug. “About the same as filming for everything else. The director, Ennoshita Chikara, is a genius, though. So I know this film’s going to be a great one.”  _ Subtly talk the film up,  _ Kenma knows. It’s become second nature at this point.

But then the host throws a wrench into all of Kenma’s autopilot plans.

“So what about your co-star, Haiba Lev? With the new pictures floating around, there’s been a lot of discussion about the two of you, I have to say. Especially about the nature of your relationship… romantic or otherwise…”

Kenma feels himself completely freeze up.  _ What do I say? What the hell do I have to say? I have to answer, right? Holy shit, what the fuck am I supposed to do?  _ And then, Kuroo’s words pop into his head.

“I’m not dating Haiba Lev,” Kenma says, or more like spits, because it comes out a little more aggressive than he’d intended to. And then, without even thinking, Kenma says, “...because I already have a boyfriend.”

“Oh, do tell!” the host says, leaning forward. She looks thrilled, probably because she’s going to get the juiciest scoop of the day today or whatever. “Who might this boyfriend be?”

Kenma doesn’t even think before he says the words, “My childhood friend, Kuroo Tetsurou.”

And then he realizes that he is completely and utterly screwed.

.

After the show, Kenma finds himself at a total loss for what to do for what might be the hundredth time in the past few days.

He can’t check his phone. He knows that Kuroo has probably messaged him, asking what the fuck is going on. Kenma doesn’t blame him. He’s well aware that he should have asked Kuroo before he dropped this bombshell that’s threatening to implode on the both of them. But, truthfully, he hadn’t really been thinking at all. It had just been the first thing to jump to his mind.

He’s not sure what that means.

He tucks his hat down further onto his head, trying to cover up his blonde locks. Too identifying, he mopes. He slides his sunglasses onto his face and slinks into a random coffee shop. After ordering a plain black coffee, he slips into a booth and covers his head with his hands.

“Oh my god,” says the guy at the next table. “Did you hear Kozume Kenma admitted he has a boyfriend? That Kuroo Tetsurou dude that’s always showing up on his Twitter. His childhood friend or whatever.”

“Oh, I totally knew,” whispers the girl in response.

_ No, you didn’t, because it’s not real,  _ Kenma wants to yell. He feels like he’s going crazy. And yet, despite all of this, there’s only one person that he wants to talk to.

With a resigned sigh, he digs his phone out of his pocket.  _ 12 missed calls.  _ Yep, about what he’d expected.

He hits the button to call back and drums his fingers on the table as the phone rings one, twice, three times, and then Kuroo’s voice is on the other end. “Kenma, oh my god, you _finally _answered.”

“Hi,” he says dryly. 

“What the fuck is going on?”

Kenma sighs, lowering his head and his voice. There’d be nothing better than the fans beside him getting wind of the fact that Kenma had just lied on public television. “Nothing. Everything. God, Kuro, I don’t know. She asked me the question and I just- I just panicked. And now I’ve really gone and fucked everything up. I… I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this with me.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Kuroo’s voice is just as reassuring today as it had been the day before, Kenma thinks. It’s not what Kenma deserves. “Listen, I’m on the train now, okay? I’ll meet you at your place in an hour. We can figure this out.”

“You have classes,” Kenma points out, feeling the panic rising in his throat.

“It’s Friday,” Kuroo points out. “I have the next two days to figure this out with you. And even if I did have classes, you’d be my priority. You have to know that.”

Kenma groans. “It shouldn’t be like that. You shouldn’t have to jeopardize your education for me.”

“Well, it doesn’t even matter, because I’m not,” Kuroo says. “It’s gonna be okay. I promise.”

Kenma shakes his head, even though he knows that Kuroo can’t see it. Somehow, though, he feels just the slightest bit better already. 

.

True to his word, Kuroo arrives an hour later at Kenma’s apartment. He doesn’t even speak at first. Instead, he strides over to Kenma and wraps his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. Usually Kenma would at least try to protest. Today, though, today he just melts into it, burying his head into Kuroo’s chest and tightening his hands into Kuroo’s shirt.

“Hi there, boyfriend,” Kuroo says after a minute, tone light.

“Shut up,” Kenma groans, stepping out of Kuroo’s hold. “God, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done this without asking you first. I’m so-”

“I would’ve said yes,” Kuroo interrupts.

“So stupid - wait, what?” Kenma stops himself, peering up curiously at Kuroo. “You would’ve?”

Kuroo shrugs nonchalantly, though there’s an odd tint of red on Kuroo’s cheeks that most certainly had not been there just a few moments before. “Well, yeah. Of course. If you needed me to do this as a favor to you, to get people off your back about Lev, then I’d do it for you.”

“Well,” Kenma says slowly. “Uh, this changes things. Maybe we should, then…?”

Kuroo lifts an eyebrow at him. “Maybe we should what?”

Of course Kuroo, who Kenma’s fairly certain is the biggest nerd in the entire universe and one of the smartest people he knows, would choose this moment to act completely oblivious. “Maybe we should pretend to date from now on,” Kenma mutters, avoiding eye contact again.

“Hm,” Kuroo says thoughtfully. “What would that entail, exactly?”

Kenma’s pretty sure Kuroo’s just being difficult now. “I dunno, what normal people do in a relationship, but pretend, I guess. Go on dates. Hold hands. Hug. Kiss. Whatever.”

“So what we do now, but with kissing,” Kuroo says.

“Yeah. I guess.” 

“Well, that doesn’t sound awful.” Kuroo gives a little smile. “But there’s just one thing.”

Kenma’s stomach starts to churn. “...what?”

“Have you ever kissed anyone before?”

_ Well, shit. _

The answer is no - well, besides his occasionally overbearing mother, but Kenma doesn’t want to say it. It makes him sound like a total loser. It’s just that Kenma hasn’t ever really been interested in kissing anyone before. People have been interested in kissing him, but he’s never felt the same spark, the same pull of attraction, so he’d always turned them down. Now he’s kind of wishing he had, though. Kuroo’s kissed people before. Kenma had even seen him kiss a girl back in high school and some guy at a bar. With a slight sigh, Kenma hangs his head.

“I didn’t think so,” Kuroo says softly, and suddenly Kuroo’s hand is on his jaw. Kenma’s head jolts back up to take in Kuroo’s expression. Usually he’s fairly good at reading Kuroo, all of his expressions and eccentricities. But he has no idea what could be going through Kuroo’s head right now. “You shouldn’t have to have your first kiss in front of an audience.”

So he’s thinking that they shouldn’t kiss during this whole fake dating ordeal, Kenma thinks. It’s a ridiculous idea. “No one’s gonna believe we’re dating if we don’t kiss, Kuro.”

“And no one’s gonna believe it either if we have our first kiss in front of them and it’s awkward,” Kuroo offers up in response.

Kenma has no idea what’s going on. Kenma  _ hates  _ not knowing what’s going on. “So… what exactly are you suggesting?”

It’s been a long time since Kenma’s seen Kuroo look this awkward. Junior high, year three, when he’d tried to ask out some girl and nearly tripped over his own two feet, Kenma thinks. He’d had the same expression then that he’s wearing now. “Maybe we do it now,” Kuroo mumbles, scratching the back of his neck like he always does when he gets nervous. “You know. For practice.”

Kenma’s breath hitches in his throat.

On one hand, Kuroo’s absolutely right. They need the practice. Kenma’s never even kissed anyone, for fuck’s sake. He could be a total disaster and then no one would actually believe they were dating. But on the other hand, it’s Kenma’s  _ first kiss. _ Kenma doesn’t care that much about these kind of milestones, but he’s still pretty nervous about it, because it’s something he hasn’t done and doesn’t know much about. Plus, it’s with Kuroo. Kuroo, who he’s known forever, who’s been his best friend since he can remember. And while he wouldn’t trust it to be with anyone else, he’s kind of scared that this will ruin things between them.

“We don’t have to,” Kuroo says, having caught onto the turmoil in Kenma’s head, it seems. “We can just tell people we’re taking it slow, y’know, or something like that!” 

“No.” Kenma’s voice comes out a little more forceful than he’d intended. He can feel the blood rushing to his stupid cheeks. God, he has to get it together. “I mean, it’s a good idea. We should. Try it now, that is.”

“Are you sure?” Kuroo says. Kuroo’s nothing if not a total gentleman, Kenma thinks dryly. Well, he certainly could have chosen a worse partner to pretend to date.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t have agreed if I wasn’t sure.”

Kuroo’s got both hands on his face now, one on either side of his face, his touch soft and tender. He stares down at Kenma. “Okay,” he says, “well, I’m gonna do it now, so.”

“Just do it,” Kenma snaps in return. Kuroo shouldn’t be this awkward. It doesn’t make any sense. He’s kissed lots of people, way more than Kenma, and anyways this isn’t even a real kiss. It’s just a practice kiss. With  _ Kenma,  _ who isn't all that interesting to begin with . But finally, Kuroo leans down, and Kenma’s heart speeds up even more when Kuroo’s lips brush his for the first time. Kuroo’s lips, one of the few parts of Kuroo Kenma hasn’t really felt, are soft and warm, much like the rest of Kuroo. His touch is still too soft and hesitant, though. Kenma threads his hands through Kuroo’s hair in an attempt to speed things up, and, finally, Kuroo starts to move.

Kenma’s never kissed anyone before. Therefore, he has nothing to compare this kiss to. However, it seems like a pretty damn good kiss, because Kuroo seems to be getting into it, and he himself is too a little bit. Both of their breaths start to come too faster as Kenma tugs Kuroo closer, closer, _closer._ Suddenly, though, Kuroo pulls back. “Well,” Kuroo says, voice breathy, “I, uh, I think that’s enough practice for now.”

Huh. Kenma’s never seen Kuroo like this, either: red-cheeked, hair messy, breathless.  _ Kuro’s pretty hot,  _ Kenma thinks, and then banishes the thought from his mind altogether. It’s called fake dating for a reason. “I think that went pretty well,” Kenma says, and then realizes his voice is all breathy too.  _ How humiliating.  _ He wants to crawl inside a ditch and never emerge again.

But Kuroo - Kuroo’s looking at him with an expression he’s never seen on Kuroo’s face before. His eyes are wide, cheeks still red, and he’s biting down on his lip. He shakes his head suddenly. “Yeah, I think we’ll be good,” Kuroo says. “I… I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick.”

Kenma has absolutely no idea what’s going on. 

.

**Kozume Kenma @kozumekenma ** 2h

I know the announcement came out of nowhere. So here, meet @KurooTetsurou. You’ve heard of him as my best friend, but now he’s my boyfriend too. Whatever. 

_ [Photo attached. Kuroo is kissing Kenma’s cheek, while Kenma’s blushing and looking away from the camera, a small smile on his lips.] _

**Max @kenmaspie ** 1h

LEVKEN IS DEAD. WE STAN KUROKEN ONLY

**sam @levfan02 ** 1h

Ok I’m a little sad about Levken but Kenma looks so happy that I can’t even be upset!

**New text to: Kuro**

was that cliche enough for you

**New text from: Kuro**

Actually, no. I was kind of hoping for a declaration of undying love. Maybe a sentence or two about how I’m the best boyfriend in the entire world. And the hottest.

**New text to: Kuro**

it’s a tweet not one of your raunchy romance novels

**New text from: Kuro**

Excuse me!! I do not read raunchy romance novels!!

**New text to: Kuro**

you can lie to yourself but you can’t lie to me

**New text to: Kuro**

by the way fukunaga is pissed

**New text from: Kuro**

I mean, you did announce a fake relationship without consulting your manager first. I don’t blame him.

**New text to: Kuro**

following the rules is boring anyways

**New text to: Kuro**

but he’s hoping you’ll go with me to that charity gala thing this weekend

**New text from: Kuro**

Yeah, of course I’ll be there. Saturday night, right? I’ll take a train in Saturday morning.

**New text to: Kuro**

sorry to make you come all the way here two weekends in a row

**New text from: Kuro**

Anything for my boyfriend.

.

“Kenmaaaa-saaaaan!” comes a loud voice, just centimeters away from Kenma’s right ear.

“Boundaries, Lev,” Kenma groans without even looking up. “We’ve talked about this. Keep at least 20 centimeters between us at all times.”

“That’s no fun,” Lev grumbles, but he steps back. “Anyways, you didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend! Why not?”

“We weren’t public at the time,” Kenma says, flicking to the next page of the stupid celebrity gossip magazine in his lap and seeing another glossy picture, this one of him and Lev sitting at a bakery with  _ Haiba Lev and Kozume Kenma spotted on a date?!?  _ as the way-too-enthusiastic caption. It’s worth it just to get rid of that, Kenma thinks. “And given your current volume when talking about this, there’s no chance in hell you’d be able to keep it a secret.” 

“I could too,” Lev says, pouting. “But isn’t it funny? Everyone thought you and I were dating, but then actually, you already had a boyfriend!”

“Yeah,” Kenma says, deadpan. “Hilarious.” Kenma debates if he’ll get fired if he smacks Lev across the face with the magazine. Probably. Might be worth it, though.

“Well, I’m happy for you, Kenma-san! Maybe you’ll be less grumpy all the time now that you have someone to bring you love and happiness!” 

Lev’s gotten smart, Kenma muses. He’s already taken off running by the time that Kenma gets the magazine rolled up. Maybe having Morisuke Yaku on the project has been good practice for him.

.

“I hate wearing suits,” Kenma grumbles in the car, fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket. “This is stupid. I look stupid.”

Kuroo glances over at him, but then quickly turns away for whatever reason. Kenma hates that there are getting to be more and more of these moments where he has no idea what Kuroo’s thinking whatsoever. Kuroo just says, “You look fine. Don’t worry about it. Now, we gotta practice our story, since this is, y’know, our first event as a… as a couple.”

“There’s not that much we have to make up,” Kenma says. “We met when we were kids because we were next door neighbors. True. We’ve remained close since then. True. Then, just add some lies: we realized that it had turned into more somewhere along the way, I asked you out -”

“Excuse me?” Kuroo interrupts. “Who says you’d be the one to ask me out?”

Kenma levels him with a stare. “Because the last time I saw you try to ask someone out you tripped over your own feet, cut open your cheek, and got rushed to the nurse. I had to sit there while you whined for two hours and then you promised you’d never ask anyone out again.”

“Yeah, well,” Kuroo says, crossing his arms. “I would break that rule if it was… if it was someone special.”

Kenma still doesn’t understand. It’s not like this is real, so it’s not like Kenma should be his ‘someone special’ or whatever. He shrugs. “Well, anyways. For the purpose of this lie, I told you that I was in love with you, and you said it back. Then we decided to date. We’ve been dating for two months now. Our first date was at that fancy French place we always go to. Anything else?”

“You’ve been thorough,” Kuroo says, sounding as though he’s in awe.

“It was my fuck-up that got us into this situation,” Kenma says matter-of-factly. “So I should be the one to do the work to fix it. Oh - we’re here.”

Kuroo gets out first, and then extends a hand back to Kenma. That’s normal, the kind of thing Kuroo would do for anyone just because he’s a nice guy. What’s new is that he doesn’t let go once Kenma gets out of the car. Instead, he links their fingers together, sending a soft smile Kenma’s way. “Let’s do this.”

He follows Kuroo through the crowd. Sometimes he thinks that Kuroo should have been the one to get famous, not him. Kuroo’s better with people, better at offering smiles to everyone who approaches him and graciously letting people down when Kenma doesn’t have the time to sign an autograph. But instead it’s Kenma that’s the one that’s approached, and so Kenma has to deal with it whenever Kuroo can’t do it for him.

“Ah, Kozume-san!” says a journalist, who gives him a slight bow and then continues, “Would you mind taking a few minutes to speak with me?”

_ This is the kind of thing that you’re at the event for,  _ Kenma reminds himself,  _ no matter how much it sucks.  _ “Sure,” he agrees.

“This must be the new boyfriend,” says the reporter. “Kuroo Tetsurou, correct?”

Kenma nods, and then says, “Well, kind of new. We’ve known each other for our whole lives, pretty much.”

“A childhood friends love story,” the reporter says with a smile. “That’s so sweet. If you don’t mind me asking, how did the two of you end up getting together?”

Kuroo smiles over at him, which Kenma knows means that Kuroo will be taking this question. “I think I’ve always loved him, to be honest, but I didn’t figure it out until recently. I was too scared to tell him, though. Too scared of messing up the friendship. So he had to be the one to say something first. About two months ago, we were just hanging out together, playing some video games, and he looks over at me and he says that he has to tell me something. I tell him I’m listening, and he says -” Kuroo looks away, his cheeks heating up. “He says that he’s in love with me. And it’s what I’d been waiting to hear all this time. I still can’t believe it, sometimes, how damn lucky I am.” He leans over to press a kiss to the top of Kenma’s head.

Well, Kenma thinks. For the one out of the two of them who isn’t an actor, that had been some pretty impressive acting.

...but back in junior high, when Kuroo’s class had put on a performance, Kuroo had been the worst actor in the class.

Certain things are starting to piece together in Kenma’s mind.

.

“I’m on the train to your school right now,” Kenma says as soon as Kuroo answers the phone.

“Huh?” Kuroo says. “I mean, not that I’m complaining, I don’t have anything else to do, but, uh, why?”

“Fukunaga thinks that we need to hang out alone to seem more convincing or whatever, and I agree,” Kenma says. “The more things happen with  _ us,  _ the less people talk about Levken or whatever, and that’s my goal. I’ve seen fans on Twitter say that it’s not respectful to ship Levken anymore. Music to my ears.” 

“Ah, of course,” Kuroo says, his tone light but with a bit of an edge to it. “Not that you just wanted to see me, of course.”

“A little of that too,” Kenma admits. It’s not weird, really. Kuroo’s his best friend. It’s normal to want to see his best friend. 

Even though there’s a fourth reason that Kenma wants to see Kuroo today. That fourth reason happens to be  _ figure out if Kuroo’s actually into him _ . In the past, he’s always been able to tell when Kuroo’s into someone. He has telltale signs - smiling a stupid sappy smile too much, being a little too close, saying ridiculous things because he’s nervous. So Kenma thinks that this time shouldn’t be any different.

Kuroo meets him just off of his university’s campus. “You didn’t even try to disguise yourself,” Kuroo notes, slipping his hand into Kenma’s casually and giving Kenma’s hand a squeeze. 

“I need everyone to know it’s me today,” Kenma replies absently. That hadn’t been awkward at all. Maybe he’d been wrong…? But no, it’s only been a minute. He needs more information to arrive at a definitive conclusion. 

“There’s a pretty popular coffee shop in the area,” Kuroo says. “If you want people to spot you, that’s probably the best place to go. Plus, they make the best hot chocolate.” He grins over at Kenma. A smile, Kenma notes, but it’s not his stupid, sappy, “I want to date you” smile. It’s the same smile he’s seen on Kuroo’s face since Kuroo was eight years old.  _ Hm,  _ Kenma thinks.

He can’t investigate the closeness thing, though. This situation kind of requires that they be close. But Kuroo’s standing at a reasonable distance, the only contact between them being their intertwined hands.  _ Ugh.  _ Kenma’s starting to think he’s read this situation completely wrong.

Kuroo starts up a conversation about the new Super Smash Brothers downloadable character as he walks, chattering on as usual. It’s nice that Kuroo would talk about something Kenma’s interested in, but that’s all Kenma can pick out of the conversation, and that’s typical Kuroo behavior. He’s not awkward in the least. Kenma’s reminded of how Kuroo had acted about their kiss, how weird he’d been before and after, but he tells himself that it’s a normal reaction to kissing someone, even if it’s someone you’re not interested in at all. 

What Kenma doesn’t get most of all, though, is why he feels weirdly disappointed at the prospect of Kuroo not being interested in him that way. 

It doesn’t make any sense. Kenma’s never cared about people being interested in him. He’s tried his best to avoid it, honestly; he tries only to do things that wouldn’t get him noticed by other people. So why does he suddenly care what Kuroo thinks?

They get to the coffee shop and Kuroo orders for the both of them, forgoing holding Kenma’s hand to drape an arm around Kenma’s shoulders instead. As soon as they finish ordering, a random girl darts up to them, clutching her phone in her hands. “Oh my god, Kozume Kenma! I’m a huge fan of your movies! I can’t believe it’s really you! Oh, and you’re with your boyfriend, too! Ugh, I’m sorry to be that annoying person, but would you mind if I got a picture with the two of you?”

Kenma’s eyes flick to Kuroo, and then back to the girl. Perfect. This is what he’d been hoping for. “Of course,” he says smoothly, and he puts his other hand awkwardly on the girl’s back as her friend snaps a photo. She then gets a selfie. Kuroo crowds a little too far into Kenma’s space, enough so that their cheeks are brushing, but Kenma’s sure he’s just playing it up for the fans’ sake.

“Thank you so much,” the girl says brightly. “And you two are adorable together, for the record!” 

_ Cuter than me and Lev, right?  _ Kenma wants to ask. Instead, he just thanks her and follows Kuroo to a table.

“I’ve spotted at least ten people take a ‘sneaky’ photo of us, and we sat down two minutes ago,” Kuroo stage-whispers. “I think your plan might be working.”

“Do something romantic then,” Kenma hisses back.

Kuroo rolls his eyes. “What, am I the only one who can initiate romance?” he asks. But he takes both of Kenma’s hands in his and leans in closer, so that their faces are extremely close. “Hey baby. How’s it goin’?”

Kenma snorts. “Is that how you romance all your love interests?”

Kuroo cups his chin in his hands, as if he’s thinking about it. “It might be. You know, if I had love interests.” 

Well, then. Kenma tilts his head, considering. It’s true that Kuroo hasn’t really had a crush on anyone for a while, at least no one that Kenma’s been made aware of. But that makes it sound like he’s not interested in anyone. Which eliminates Kenma from the equation, too.

Kenma wonders why that feels like a knife into his chest.

_ Oh.  _

Maybe, just maybe… maybe there’s a small possibility that the reason that Kenma wants Kuroo to be interested in him, that Kuroo was the first person to spring to mind when the talk show host mentioned dating, that Kuroo is the only person Kenma could imagine doing this with - is because Kenma’s in love with Kuroo. Actually in love, not fake dating “in love”.

Well, damn it all to hell.

Kenma stands up abruptly, his cup rattling. “I have to go,” he says in a flat tone.

“Oh. Well, we can go now if you want to,” Kuroo says with a smile. “I can get my coffee to go.”

“I need to go home,” Kenma says, feeling the panic rising in his chest. “Like, home, home.”

Kuroo’s the best best friend slash fake lover ever, so he says, “No worries, I’ll walk you to the train station.”

Kuroo heads up to the counter to request to-go cups, and as soon as he gets them, he heads back to Kenma, handing him his hot chocolate. Then he presses a light kiss to Kenma’s cheek (for the cameras, Kenma reminds himself), and whispers, “I’m here.”

Kenma wants to cry.

.

They walk to the train station mostly in silence. The walk is crowded with people, so they still hold hands, and Kuroo rubs soothing circles into Kenma’s palm. All Kenma can think about is how very much he wishes that this was real, how much he wishes that Kuroo actually wanted to be with him like this, not just as some stupid favor.

And it’s all his own fault. Man, is he an idiot.

“I’ll text you,” Kenma says once they make it to the train station, willing his voice not to crack. “Later.”

“Okay,” Kuroo says, his worry prominent in his eyes, “but, uh… is everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” Kenma says. “I just remembered that, uh, I have a meeting later today.” Not his best lie, and he prays that somehow this time Kuroo will be oblivious enough not to see through him, despite the fact that Kuroo’s always, always been able to spot his lies.

Either Kuroo doesn’t notice, or he notices and decides to let it slide, because he nods and wraps Kenma up in a hug.  _ For the fans,  _ Kenma tells himself, but he still holds on tight in return. “Text me when you get back,” Kuroo says finally.

“Yeah,” Kenma agrees. He meets Kuroo’s eyes as he gets on the train, and his heart gives a little squeeze.

Damn. He’s pathetic.

.

**New text to: Kuro**

i made it home okay. don’t worry about me.

**New text from: Kuro**

Kenma, I know you weren’t rushing back for a meeting. What’s going on? Are you okay?

**New text to: Kuro**

i’m fine. seriously. don’t worry, kuro.

**New text from: Kuro**

I always worry about you, whether you want me to or not.

**New text from: Kuro**

Seriously, are you okay? 

**New text from: Kuro**

Is it something I did?

**Kozume Kenma @kozumekenma ** 2h

Days are better with you.

_ [Photo attached. It’s an old selfie of Kuroo and Kenma where their cheeks are pressed together and Kuroo is grinning brightly.] _

**New text from: Kuro**

I saw your tweet. Please talk to me.

**New text from: Kuro**

We don’t have to do this fake dating thing if you don’t want to anymore, you know. I’m fine with being dumped. 

**New text from: Kuro**

Text me when you feel like talking, okay? I’ll be here.

.

Kenma spends the whole week on set stressing over what the hell he’s supposed to do.

He doesn’t really want to fake date Kuroo now that he’s figured this out about himself: that he’s in love with his best friend, that he has been for a while now, and he’s just been too oblivious to realize it. But the alternative is saying that they’ve broken publicly or acting less affectionate in public, and that’ll feel like they’ve actually broken up, which feels even worse. Also, people would probably go straight back to shipping him with Lev big time again. That’s his worst nightmare. 

And he knows that he can’t ignore Kuroo like this forever. After all, people will get suspicious if they don’t interact. His tweet had been a desperate attempt to make sure that people don’t suspect anything, but they probably need to be seen in public at least once over the weekend.

Kenma is going to die.

And Lev is starting to get suspicious, too. He comments that Kenma “doesn’t seem like himself these days”, and then asks if he’s having problems with Kuroo, which Kenma vehemently denies. He’s not having problems with Kuroo. He’s having problems about Kuroo. The two things are very different. Kuroo hasn’t done a single thing wrong, after all.

Which makes the way Kenma’s been treating him even more awful.

It’s Friday night now, and Kenma’s burrowing himself into bed, deciding that maybe he’ll just sleep his life away. He’s just starting to drift off when his phone buzzes again.  _ God, please don’t let it be Kuroo,  _ he prays. He’s not sure he could live with the guilt of ignoring Kuroo again. 

Instead, it’s Fukunaga.

**New text from: Fukunaga Shouhei **

Hey, Kenma. There’s a promotional event for your movie tomorrow night. You and your boyfriend should be there. Dress nice, no hoodies. See you then.

Well, Kenma thinks with a sigh. Isn’t that just terrific.

There’s only one possible solution to this, and that’s to text Kuroo. So Kenma musters up all of the willpower left inside of him (Yamamoto’s annoying ass would be proud, huh), and composes a new text. 

**New text to: Kuro**

i’m not dumping you. sorry, just needed some time to think. fukunaga wants us to go to another event tomorrow night. if you’re still willing. but i understand if you’re not.

The reply comes almost immediately. 

**New text from: Kuro**

Of course I’m willing. Tell me when and where and I’ll be there.

Kenma’s torn between feeling relieved and wanting to cry. He’s so stupidly in love with Kuroo that he can barely breathe. 

But he’ll get himself together. He has to.

.

It feels weird to be back with Kuroo at first. He doesn’t usually go days without talking to Kuroo; usually, they’ll text a few times back and forth or call during the days that they’re apart. And he’s well aware of Kuroo’s curious eyes on him, probably attempting to find some kind of explanation for Kenma’s odd behavior over the past few days. But then Kuroo starts in with a story about one of his university friends, how they’d managed to fall into a trashcan and had been left there for days, and Kenma can’t help but laugh a little bit. Then Kenma looks up at Kuroo and he sees it. 

The dopey, stupid, sappy, so-in-love smile that’s trademark of every one of Kuroo Tetsurou’s crushes. 

_Well, shit, _Kenma thinks. They definitely have some things to talk about after this event, it seems. But his heart is leaping at his chest at the concept of Kuroo being actually in love with him, too. 

Kuroo navigates them through the crowd, his arm wrapped firmly around Kenma’s waist, and Kenma revels in the concept that this could soon be real. 

The event is boring. Kenma has to go up on stage with Lev, too, which makes his night even worse. Lev tends to speak without thinking first, which makes him an awful person to answer questions with. And then someone has to ask a question that pries into Kenma’s dating life.

“Some people on the web have doubted the legitimacy of your new relationship, Kozume-san,” calls the person from the crowd. “They say that it’s a cover-up so that you won’t expose your actual relationship with Haiba-san. What do you have to say to those people?” 

_ Now or never,  _ Kenma thinks, his heart pounding.

It was hard at first to speak in front of people. It’s something that Kenma’s always dreaded, having the judging eyes of people on him, but he’d eventually come to accept it as part of the profession. The more he’d done it, the easier it had gotten, until it had become tolerable - not enjoyable, to be sure, but not the worst thing ever. 

Right now feels like the first time all over again.

The nausea builds in his throat as he manages to get out, “I’m sure a lot of people thought it was fake at first.” He tries to make eye contact with Kuroo, to let him know that this is directed at him. “B-because it seemed to come out of nowhere. But… in reality, uh, I think that, that it’s been a long time coming. I think that I’ve felt this way… for a while. Before we got together, even. For years, maybe. S-so, this is my assurance to you, to all of you. This is real. Oh, and I’m not interested in Lev  _ at all _ . Thank you.” 

He can hear some applause, but it’s mostly drowned out by the frantic pounding in his ears. He can’t concentrate on the rest of the event. Instead, he can only think about Kuroo, what Kuroo’s going to say, what Kuroo’s thinking right now. He can’t bring himself to look at Kuroo, though. He’s too afraid of what he’ll find.

After the event, Kuroo poses with him for the cameras, and Kenma keeps avoiding direct eye contact. It’s not until they’re in the car and the divider is up that Kuroo finally hisses, urgently, “Kenma, I’m going crazy here. Did you mean it? What you said up there? It’s fine if you didn’t, but I just have to know, and -”

“Of course I meant it,” Kenma interrupts. “Every word.”

“Kenma,” Kuroo whispers, and the crack in his voice means he’s on the verge of tears, Kenma knows. “I love you. For real.”

There’s not a hint of doubt in his voice. There’s nothing to say that he could be lying; everything in his face screams complete and total sincerity. Kenma’s heart leaps into his throat. _ This is real,  _ he yells inside of his head.  _ Holy shit, this is really happening. _

_ But it’s Kuro, _ comes the response.  _ So it’s okay. _

Kenma breathes in deeply to try to get himself to calm down, and then says, “I love you too, for real.”

Kuroo’s grinning now. It’s his usual Kenma smile, the one that Kenma now recognizes as being pretty stupidly smitten. He moves in towards Kenma, one of his hands reaching up to cradle his face carefully, as though he’s holding something particularly precious. “Can I kiss you? For real?”

“If you stop saying for real,” Kenma gripes. 

This kiss is even better than the first one. It feels like Kuroo pours all of his unbridled love and affection into the kiss: bringing them close together, his hands moving down to wrap tightly around Kenma’s body. Kenma clings onto him like he’s been drowning and Kuroo’s the life raft that's been thrown out to rescue him. When Kuroo pulls back, he’s all breathy again, and he’s completely red. “I think that’s enough for the back of a car,” he says.

“I want to kiss more,” Kenma says, crossing his arms petulantly.

“In a minute,” Kuroo says. “But first… is this why you were ignoring me?”

“Yeah.” Kenma suddenly feels ashamed. After all, it should’ve been obvious - what with Kuroo’s reaction to the kiss, with his terrible acting skills that would have never been able to pull something of this caliber off in the first place, with the way he looks at Kenma, has always looked at Kenma. Still, he explains, “I was scared you didn’t feel the same way.”

“Ha,” Kuroo says, shaking his head. “I never stood a chance when confronted with someone like you.”

Kenma lifts an eyebrow. “Someone like me?”

“Yeah,” Kuroo says, staring at him with brazen determination. “Someone beautiful, funny, determined when he wants to be, the coolest person I know. The world’s most talented actor. Half the world’s in love with you, you know? Why would you think I’d be any different?”

Kenma rolls his eyes. “Shut up,” he says, but he knows he’s smiling, like an idiot.

“Besides, I’m impressed you didn’t figure it out,” Kuroo says, poking him in a really annoying manner. “I’m pretty damn obvious.”

“I did eventually,” Kenma complains.

“The kissing practice thing? Notice how we never actually had to kiss for the cameras…”

“We could’ve had to,” Kenma says. 

“But you were into that too,” Kuroo says with a wink. “Mr. No One Will Believe Us If We Don’t Kiss…”

“God, you’re so annoying.”

“And yet you love it,” Kuroo says, and his smile is wide as he leans back in to kiss Kenma. All Kenma can think is that he could definitely get used to this.

.

**Kuroo Tetsurou @KurooTetsurou ** 2h

My best friend and the love of my life, all wrapped up in one cute little package.

_ [Photo attached, a selfie. The two of them are in the back of a car, Kenma leaning on Kuroo’s shoulder, seeming to have fallen asleep. Kuroo’s smiling softly down at him.] _

**Kozume Kenma @kozumekenma ** 1h

@KurooTetsurou is a traitor and the sappiest idiot on this planet but i guess he’s still my sappy idiot

_ [Photo attached of Kenma, clearly just having been woken up, glaring up at Kuroo. Kuroo’s still grinning back at him like Kenma’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.] _

**Haiba Lev @haibalev ** 30m

@kozumekenma @KurooTetsurou HAHAHA I guess if that doesn’t convince everyone that we’re not a thing, nothing ever will ;) HAHA

**New text to: Haiba Lev**

i’m really gonna kill you this time.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh my last Kuroken week fic :') I'm both sad and happy! Anyways, this was for the free day, day 7. And please know that I don't hate Lev, I just love writing Kenma being :| about him.  
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this, and please leave a comment if you did!
> 
> Edit 8/19/19: Some people drew some amazing art for this fic!! I'm so honored and wanted to share.
> 
> https://twitter.com/gingermilks/status/1163019792271364096  
https://twitter.com/sunrieteas/status/1162660708464508928


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